Soroka Fortress (1)
Soroka Fortress (1)
I couldn't understand why the chief butler of the Gracia Ducal Family had come to see the Queen, or why he was telling me about it.
Still, I could tell that some kind of discussion was taking place between the Duke of Gracia and the Queen.
If it had anything to do with me, it was probably related to the Princess...
Then...
No, I had too little information. Anything beyond that would be wild speculation.
The chief butler didn't seem likely to tell me, so I would have to gather information on my own.
I stopped guessing and headed for my room.
I could feel the chief butler's gaze on my back.
The departure point for this dispatch class was also in front of the royal palace. Since the Princess was part of the group, that was only natural.
By the time I arrived at the palace, the rest of the group had already gathered.
Senior Benjamin and the Princess were waiting.
There was even a freshman I'd never seen before.
The Grand Archduchess and Balea couldn't come with us.
The Grand Archduchess had returned to her duchy on urgent business.
I didn't know what it was, but she had said she would be back before the second semester began.
Balea had also returned to her own territory.
Although the acting baron was working hard to get things in order, the territory still seemed to be in disarray.
She had grumbled that she wouldn't have gone if it weren't for her mother, but either way, she couldn't join us for the dispatch class.
Still, back in our first year, everyone had participated in the dispatch class, even if only as a formality. Now it had simply become an excuse to return to their territories.
Perhaps it was because we were in a higher grade now, or maybe the Kingdom was simply that chaotic.
I had also invited my teammate, Mirisa, but she apologized and said she already had plans with her cousin, Piar.
It looked to me as though she'd made those plans on purpose.
Then again, considering how much she'd suffered during our group project, it was understandable that she wouldn't want to spend time with us.
The freshman joining us in their place was a quiet-looking boy.
He was a student in the Inherited Ability Faculty, and surprisingly, he'd volunteered to come with us.
With a half-terrified expression, he introduced himself.
"I am Glan de Payday, a first-year."
When I heard his surname, I thought I understood why he'd volunteered.
"I'm Alex. But if your name is Payday, what is your relation to General Bador?"
General Bador, or Count Bador, was the noble currently guarding Soroka Fortress.
Not only did he rule the fortress city as a count, but he was also a renowned commander who had defended the fortress for a very long time.
Even now, he refused to align himself with any faction and focused solely on defending the Kingdom. This earned him the envy and jealousy of other nobles, who drifted like tumbleweeds in search of survival.
"He is my father."
As expected, he was also planning to use this as a loophole to visit home.
Still, he was a welcome addition to the group.
If he was Count Bador's son, he would be the perfect connection for getting close to the Count.
I could see why the Princess had included him in our party.
"A-and you don't have to speak formally to me."
Since we were only a year or two apart, I'd spoken formally to avoid being rude. But if he didn't want me to, I could just speak casually.
"Then I'll do that."
Instead of looking down on me for being an illegitimate son, the Count's son was actually afraid of me.
Apparently, some strange rumors about me had been going around.
The Princess, Senior Benjamin, our first-year junior, and I made up the group for this dispatch class.
But since the Princess was traveling with us, there was no way it would just be the four of us.
We would be traveling with two carriages, two maids, and two knights.
The two knights weren't Royal Knights.
Knight Miro and Knight Axel—the two academy knights—were escorting the Princess for the first time.
Since they hadn't retired yet, it was a little surprising that they were coming along, but after I heard the details, it didn't seem like anything special.
Apparently, academy knights tagged along whenever students went to fortresses or remote areas for dispatch classes.
As everyone loaded their luggage and I was about to board the carriage, one of the maids approached and asked for my backpack.
"I will load it for you."
It was normal to load luggage separately, but my backpack wasn't ordinary baggage.
The maids who usually traveled with the Princess should have known that I always kept my backpack with me.
Puzzled, I looked at the maid. She raised her hand and traced a half-moon shape across her chest.
At that, I let out a silent sigh. I'd told them it was fine, but they'd ended up following me anyway.
The religion that revered the sword I possessed, the 'Holy Knight's Divine Sword', as a holy relic was one that worshipped Celine, the Goddess of the Moon and Night.
The deity worshipped by the Auction House Owner, the 'Divine Sword Tracker', was naturally Celine as well.
They had preserved their faith for hundreds of years while evading the temple, and had developed ways to recognize one another without being caught.
One of those signs was the half-moon gesture the maid had just made.
I'd heard that there were more believers scattered around than I thought, but I never imagined one would be among the royal maids.
Royal maids often included many nobles, and even those who weren't nobles usually came from well-to-do families.
Considering that the 'Divine Sword Tracker' was a noble and that there was a royal maid among the believers, their influence seemed far greater than I'd imagined.
"I am sorry. She was working elsewhere before, so she was unaware of the situation."
As I stared at the maid, another one stepped forward and apologized to me.
She was the Princess's personal maid. Having traveled with us every time, she knew a fair bit about me.
"Young Lord Alex keeps his backpack with him. Apologize and head to the rear carriage."
The maid who had asked for my backpack immediately bowed her head.
"I am terribly sorry. I committed a rude mistake out of ignorance. If there is ever anything you need or wish to know, please do not hesitate to tell me at any other time."
I nodded to accept her apology.
To anyone else, it would have looked like I was simply forgiving the maid, but in reality, I was responding to her last sentence.
Come to think of it, there was something I wanted to ask.
I cast a soundproof barrier and spoke to the maid as she turned away.
"I heard the chief butler of the Gracia Ducal Family came to see the Queen. I would like to know what that is about."
The maid nodded as she walked back to the carriage, and I deactivated the soundproof barrier.
And so, our secret meeting came to an end, and we set off for the fortress.
The capital was a considerable distance from Soroka Fortress.
Since it was even farther away than the Gracia Territory, the carriages traveled continuously without stopping to rest.
Unlike last year, the territories we passed through were incredibly quiet.
There were no bandits or thieves in sight, and there weren't many people traveling the roads.
Instead, perhaps because their training had concluded, soldiers and knights were roaming around in large groups.
Every territory we passed through was thick with tension.
It felt like a powder keg ready to explode at the slightest touch—a highly volatile atmosphere.
Perhaps because of this, not a single lord stepped forward to invite us to their manor, even as the royal carriage passed by.
And no one dared to cause trouble for a carriage bearing the royal crest.
The farther we traveled through the territories, the darker the Princess's expression grew.
Though she was still young, she was remarkably intelligent for her age.
She could easily grasp the gravity of the situation just by sensing the atmosphere.
After traveling through the territories for over a week, we finally arrived at the Kingdom's northeastern edge, the fortress city of Soroka.
It was a massive fortress city nestled beneath the mountain range.
I poked my head out of the carriage window as we sped toward the fortress city.
In the distance, beneath the northern sky, a long mountain range stretched endlessly from east to west.
It was a high, rugged range that looked to be thousands of meters tall.
That was the Northern Mountain Range, which cut across the continent.
It was a welcome barrier, acting as a breakwater to keep the Tsar Empire from attacking other kingdoms, but it was also a path that allowed monsters from the Seal Grounds to cross into the kingdoms.
Because of a small mountain range that was merely a branch of those Northern Mountains, our own territory had suffered immensely during the winter.
As the carriage drew closer to the fortress, the road grew even more rugged.
Rolling hills stretched on, and we had to take a long detour because hills and cliffs blocked our path.
Soroka Fortress had likely remained unconquered for hundreds of years thanks to this treacherous terrain.
Though it was called a fortress, Soroka Fortress was a massive castle.
It wasn't like the crumbling castles I'd seen in the Duchy, but a sturdy, towering castle that was impeccably maintained.
The castle stood right against the rocky mountains, which were almost sheer cliffs.
From the carriage, it looked as though the castle had been wedged into a gap between the rocky mountains that connected to the range.
After a thorough inspection, the carriage was permitted to enter the fortress.
Unlike in other territories, military discipline was still strictly maintained here.
The city wasn't very large. It looked smaller than the Gracia Territory, and even smaller than Marquis Pisen's mining city.
But aside from the high-end residential areas, everything seemed to be packed tightly together.
The carriage headed toward the inner castle in the center of the city.
Since the city had been built as a fortress, a sturdy inner castle stood in place of a lord's manor.
After crossing the fortress city, the carriage came to a halt in front of the inner castle.
Perhaps because word had been sent from the outer wall, a knight was already waiting outside.
"Are you the Princess and her party of three here for the dispatch class?"
We got out of the carriage and nodded in response to the knight. He pointed inside and spoke.
"The General is waiting for you. Please follow me."
Without waiting for us, the knight turned and walked ahead, leaving us to entrust our luggage to the maids and academy knights before following him.
"I don't think I need to see him, though..."
Just then, Glan, the Count's son who was walking alongside us, tentatively asked the knight.
During our long journey here, I'd talked with Glan quite a bit, and we'd grown somewhat close.
Contrary to my first impression, Glan was a freshman who was surprisingly easy to talk to.
He had a quiet personality and was slightly averse to knights, but that seemed to stem from resentment toward his father and the stifling life in the fortress.
He still seemed a bit immature, but that was only natural, since he was in his mid-teens.
And since he had a decent personality, he'd grown quite close to Senior Benjamin as well.
The issue was that Glan was the type to speak his mind more than one would expect.
This time, too, he was the first to question the knight's words.
"That is not permitted. He stated that he wishes to see everyone."
But his inquiry was immediately shut down.
I couldn't believe he would reject the Count's son so flatly.
As expected, the military discipline was razor-sharp. Looked at another way, though, they were incredibly rigid.
We walked down the corridor, passing through the hall of the inner castle.
The interior of the castle was incredibly grim and desolate.
There wasn't a single painting in the central hall or the corridors.
At most, there were a few sculptures here and there, but even those depicted terrifying monsters.
Even for an important fortress, the inner castle was unusually grim.
While flashy, wasteful mansions were unpleasant to look at, such desolation was just as uninviting.
I began to worry about the Count we were about to meet, albeit for a different reason.
No one was guarding the office.
The knight knocked and opened the office door, revealing two men inside.
A middle-aged man and a young man.
Since the young man couldn't possibly be the Count, the middle-aged man had to be him.
Unlike his son, the Count was a noble who looked incredibly stern.
He didn't have the massive build of other knights, but his frame was packed with solid muscle.
"Welcome, Princess. I am Count Bador."
The Count rose from his seat and greeted the Princess as she entered the room.
The Princess returned the greeting on our behalf.
Then the Count introduced the young man he'd been speaking with.
We were puzzled by the sudden introduction, but once we learned who he was, it made perfect sense.
"He is a prince of the Epirus Kingdom."
"I am the Second Prince of the Epirus royal family, Max Epirus."
The handsome prince offered us a polite greeting.